This invention relates to information processing apparatus and methods for evaluating the insurability of a potentially insurable risk.
Risk has been defined as the possibility of loss or injury. It is an element of every day life that cannot be avoided. Possible losses can take many forms, including: loss of life, health, property, or finances. Because it is not known when a particular loss will occur, and because the consequences of such loss can be very severe, people have learned to try to protect themselves from risks. Although there are several ways to do this, insurance is perhaps the most common. Insurance is designed to protect people and property from potential losses or injury. However, not all risks are insurable. For a risk to be insurable, the element of chance must be present, i.e., the loss should be caused by an uncertain future event which is not intentionally caused. The ability to evaluate the elements of chance and probability in determining the insurability of a potentially insurable risk is a complex process. In the past, individuals have assessed these risks from their own experiences supported by the accumulated experiences of the group with whom they work. Such individuals have been called underwriters, since they are willing to accept or underwrite a particular risk.
Today, there are many types of potentially insurable risks. Lives and health are at risk from infections, accidents, cancers, stress, heart disease, and other causes. Property is at risk from environmental sources such as fires and storms as well as from accidents, theft and vandalism. Further, protection from legal liability is an important and emerging issue. As society has changed, and the nature and number of potential losses have increased, the task of evaluating the insurability of potentially insurable risks has become more complex and demanding, and typically involves the review of more information than in the past. Due to these factors, and the variations in the abilities of individuals to assess the chance elements and probabilities associated with risks, and the financial consequences of poor decisions, there exists a need for improving the overall processes of evaluating risks by increasing access to information as well as coordinating and processing information from multiple sources. A need also exists for improving the manner in which the management of large organizations involved in the evaluation of risk (such as large insurance companies) implement policies concerning such evaluations.
An object of the present invention is to provide a method and apparatus for evaluating the insurability of a potentially insurable risk in an improved and more consistent manner.
This and other objects are attained in information processing methods and apparatus which provide first and second data bases; means for storing information relating to the subject risk in the first data base; means for identifying additional elements of information required for evaluating the risk, and means for requesting entry of the additional information for storage in the first data base; means for correlating elements of information from the first data base with corresponding elements of information in the second data base; means for assigning a weight to one of the selected elements of information from the first data base on the basis of predetermined relationships existing between information in the first data base and corresponding information in the second data base; means for displaying information from the second data base, corresponding to one of the selected elements of information from the first data base, for use in assigning a weight to that element of information, means for monitoring an input device for entry of the weight, and means for storing the weight following entry thereof; and means for determining a risk classification from the weights assigned to the elements of information in the first data base. In preferred embodiments, the methods and apparatus of the present invention further include a plurality of expert modules, and means for identifying an expert module corresponding to an element of information in the first data base for use in assigning a weight to that element of information. Provisions are also made for identifying elements of information in the first data base for which no corresponding information in the second data base exists and for which no expert module exists, and for selectively providing an option to assign a weight to such elements.
Other aspects of the present invention, which may also be incorporated into embodiments of the invention, include the ability to override the expert modules and to assign a different weight to the element of information, and to adjust the assigned weights on the basis of statistical profiles relating to the subject information.
In certain embodiments of the invention, the risk classification is determined by combining the weights assigned to the elements of information in the first data base to derive a single weight representative of the subject risk. This single weight is then compared to a standard for a risk of the same class, and a conversion is performed to arrive at the proper risk classification. The method and apparatus of the present invention preferably allows for determination of an expected profit which may result from a decision based on the risk classification, determination of the probability of generating such a profit, and the impact on the expected profit of changing the risk classification.
Certain embodiments of the methods and apparatus of the present invention include a user data base, an installation specific data base, and a management information data base. The user data base is useful for storing information relating to a plurality of system users, and for selecting one of the users for subsequent identification with the potentially insurable risk to be evaluated. Users are selected on the basis of training, experience, workload, and any of a number of marketing factors. The installation specific data base is used for storing information which may be specific or peculiar to a particular site, geographical location, marketing group, or other designated category, and for factoring such specific information into the assigning of weights to the elements of information in the first data base. The management information data base allows the method and apparatus of the present invention to be monitored and modified, as deemed appropriate.
Other objects, advantages and novel features of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the invention when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.